# Apple iPhone Pro 144 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple iPhone Pro and 155 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 4 years (26 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for its excellent cameras, especially the telephoto, plus long battery life and hardware that stays useful for years; critics cite laggy, buggy iOS and heavily processed photos. ## Why people recommend it - Excellent cameras and telephoto zoom (6 comments): "The latest iPhone takes shockingly good photos. It's not a full frame mirrorless by any stretch, but it's really in another league when it comes to mobile photography." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47779115)) "the telephoto on the iPhone Pro Max models has gotten significantly better in the 2.5 years since mine was released" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49091257)) "Phones like the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Samsung S26 Ultra often outperform high-megapixel devices" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46171310)) - Long battery life (4 comments): "the 40+ hour battery life AND the adjustable aperture on the camera are, by themselves, making me consider it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49642246)) "longer battery life if the main benefit nearly every user experiences and appreciates" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49641511)) "Still lasts all day and then some, rarely think how much I've got left on a charge." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49631588)) - Lasts years, holds resale value (3 comments): "Literally nothing has made me feel the slightest craving for a new iPhone since getting my 15 Pro Max." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49087680)) "Recently refreshed the battery in 15 Pro for $60 and the phone feels new again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50037594)) "My three-year-old iPhone 15 Pro is still worth $500 or more on the open market" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49639140)) - Capable, very usable hardware (3 comments): "I daresay the iPhone 17 Pro is a compelling enough upgrade, hardware wise. Not much innovation, but their phone hardware is very usable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47842437)) "My iPhone 15 Pro Max is more capable than a MacBook Neo; it'd be nice if it could be one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266730)) "In terms of hardware that is pretty much everything I wanted other than Silicon Battery." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49632061)) ## What people warn about - Laggy, buggy iOS software (4 comments): "The Face ID bug that caused a reboot on iPhone 18 pros was a clear example that they put little quality control into software." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50114143)) "Constantly lagging and locking up in preparation for another transparent animation that absolutely no one asked for." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46499383)) "At first there were several small layout / UI bugs that came from turning liquid glass off. But it seems fine now." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49638007)) - Over-processed, fake-looking photos (3 comments): "The amount of post-processing in them makes them look fake, like somebody took a photo of the background, and then photoshopped the subject on top of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49788584)) "the arbitrary part of the face of the girl in front is literally blurred, which happens neither to the other parts of her face" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49777218)) "Where the line was crossed was magic eraser and reframe where the iphone is straight up making objects in the image." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49635631)) - Screens crack or scratch (2 comments): "Sadly my 14 pro has a crack in the lower right screen, and the tele lense has some issue with fixing lens position / focus" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49640325)) "got scratched/cracked within weeks of me getting it when none of my other iPhones ever had any screen issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47781705)) - System data fills storage (2 comments): "My iPhone 14 Pro has 35Gb of "system data" which has basically filled up the entire storage I had left" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46763690)) "Performance nosedives, then it starts bootlooping randomly, and eventually you can't even delete stuff because there's no space to delete things." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47225143)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple iPhone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone.md): 706 recommend - [Fairphone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fairphone.md): 168 recommend - [iPhone 13 mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-13-mini.md): 141 recommend - [Jolla Phone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jolla-phone.md): 88 recommend - [iPhone SE](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-se.md): 84 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+iPhone+17+Pro&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.apple.com/iphone/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple iPhone Pro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-17-pro/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).